


To Know You Is To Love You

by everythingsklainenothinghurts



Category: Glee RPF
Genre: Fluff and Angst, M/M, more fluff though
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-15
Updated: 2015-05-15
Packaged: 2018-03-30 17:35:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,566
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3945631
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/everythingsklainenothinghurts/pseuds/everythingsklainenothinghurts
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Chris wakes up to find himself alone in bed and goes to find Darren who is dealing with his exhaustion in his own way.</p>
            </blockquote>





	To Know You Is To Love You

It's the middle of the night when Chris notices that something is missing.  
He hardly ever sleeps through a night anyways but without Darren's firm body pressed against his and his steady breathing tickling the back of his neck it's almost impossible to stay asleep at all. So he sits up in the dark, silent room. He looks around just to find nothing but their clothes still scattered all over the floor and Darren's side of the bed a mess of rumpled sheets. Chris sighs and combs his fingers through his messy hair and gets up with a soft huff. A shiver shoots through his body when the cool air hits his bare skin, giving him goosebumps. They'd let a window open to get some circulation going, to let the scent of sex escape only to be replaced with the crisp night air that Chris is now breathing in deeply while he stretches his sore muscles. For a moment he wonders if Darren only got up to pee or get a glass of water and thinks about how he possibly moved away from beneath the warm covers for nothing but it's then when he allows himself to listen and hears a clink and music playing softly in the living room. He furrows his brows and decides to put on some underwear and one of Darren's hoodies, which is laying around carelessly, before he goes to find out what Darren is up to.

When he enters the room he finds his boyfriend. His hair is a mess of dark curls, shiny from the products he uses these days, and his long fingers are wrapped around a glass filled with liquid the same colour as Darren's eyes. He doesn't notice Chris, not yet. He's too wrapped up in his mind and Chris knows the look on his face. He seems distant and lost in the music that surrounds him, playing softly but loudly enough to drown everything around him out completely. His head bobs with the rhythm and his fingers tap against the glass and Chris's heart aches a little at the sight because this man is his and what they share nothing but their own.

Chris almost doesn't dare to disturb him and he's glad that the moment he moves is the moment Darren looks up at him with a sad smile. He sniffs and rubs at his eyes. They look tired and cloudy yet they sparkle in the dim light that ignites the room and its then when Darren decides to speak up, interrupting the song and the silence between them.  
"We lost a legend," he whispers quietly, his voice rough and hoarse from singing his heart out earlier that night and Chris gives him a sympathetic, sad smile.  
"Honey...," the younger man says quietly and walks towards him to join Darren, sitting in his lap innocently and Darren's arm wraps around his small waist immediately, holding him close against his slim body. Chris's hands reach for Darren's neck to hold the sides of it gently, making him look back at him by tilting his jaw up.  
"You okay there?" He asks, brushing his cool fingertips over Darren's forehead to get rid of the loose curls there and Darren nods, biting his lip before a giggly sob escapes him and he presses his head into the crook of Chris's neck.  
"I'm fine," Darren chokes out while shaking lightly and Chris knows he's not but he won't ask further. He'll wait for Darren to tell him, as always if he's even willing to share, while he strokes his hands soothingly over Darren's back, feeling the warmth of his skin through the fabric of his shirt and it grounds both of them. It always does.

A long moment passes, another song comes on and Chris never particularly liked Blues but he knows Darren does so he closes his eyes and listens, allows the low, slow strumming of the guitar and the significant, strong voice to wash over him.

"It's a _lot_ ," Darren whispers when he pulls back after a few minutes, his eyes red and he takes a sip of Whiskey, gritting his teeth before he shakes his head, keeping it down.  
"I love it though. You know I do. You know I hate nothing more than slowing down and this makes me so fucking happy and seeing all those people every night - man, it's the best thing in the whole damn world but I'm just so - god, fuck, I don't even know...," he breathes, not able to find a word to fit him, to fit the situation because it's true.

He loves Broadway, he loves the show, he loves performing, he loves the fans and his colleagues and Chris, who's right there with him, even though they have to work around it, have to pretend and Chris has to act like he's not even in the same time zone and it's _exhausting_. Yes, exhausting is probably the word he's looking for, though it still won't leave his lips. Chris had agreed to this for more than one reason. Most importantly though, he couldn't miss this. He couldn't miss Darren's teenage fantasy become reality and he wouldn't let anyone take this from him. He knew it was a risk, they weren't stupid after all and he knew he'd have to leave again soon but right now he couldn't care less because while it was draining, both emotionally and physically, this was just how it had always been with them. They'd always been there for each other, supporting in one way or another and while it was rough and lead to arguments more often than it didn't, it was worth it, they both knew that it was. But Chris was also mature and realistic enough to know just how much more emotionally draining this was for Darren. He was in the spotlight 24/7, biting his tongue so the truth wouldn't slip while Chris was able to take days off, sometimes even weeks to deal with his own stuff, to write and work and _live_ but Darren needed the rush and fell into a routine that had him completely exposed.

Then again none of this mattered in moments like these, not when Darren got to wrap his arms around Chris after a long day to hold him close and cry into his shoulder while B.B. King's music was setting the mood. It was blue but powerful and Chris let Darren have his moment of weakness.

 

* * *

 

Darren came down quickly, it was just one of those nights where his emotions were strung high and his body demanded a break as well as his mind and bad news were just the last straw to make him break.  
"I didn't wake you, did I?" Darren asks, his voice concerned and still husky and Chris quickly shakes his head.  
"No, I just noticed you were gone," he says softly, stroking his fingers through Darren's hair absently. "Don't worry about it."  
But Darren does, always, so all he does is huff out a noise that Chris can't quite identify and pull away to finish his drink. He sets the glass down and rubs his hand over his face, sighing deeply.

"I'm just so tired," he says, defeated and Chris is about to get up so he can pull Darren back into bed where he belongs at 3:21 in the morning but it's then that [one of Darren's favourite songs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DREJ9E1z7xc) comes on. Chris knows that song well. He knows it because Darren would blast it sometimes. Sometimes he'd play it on his guitar or dance around to it when he was doing the dishes while telling Chris it was his favourite version and it immediately made Darren's features softer, causes a small smile to tug on his lips despite the sadness still gleaming in his eyes.

"Fuck that. We gotta dance. Dance with me, baby - come on!" Darren urges and pours himself another glass just to down it before he stands up, causing Chris to do the same and Chris can't help but let out a little, confused laugh. "I thought you were tired?!" Chris exclaims over the music when Darren turns up the volume, definitely pissing off the neighbours at this point but the older man just laughs, sways his hips to the rhythm and shrugs.

"'m never too tired! Sleep makes you miss most of the fun anyways, Colfer! I can still sleep when I'm like 92 or something!" He shouts over the music, slurring a bit and it makes Chris laugh and he laughs even harder when Darren wraps his arms around him to spin him, swaying and singing with his voice breaking.

" _When I'm down and feelin' sad, you always comfort me! Oh! To know you is to love you!_ " Darren pretty much yells along, using his exaggerated "Blues" voice while looking directly at Chris and they both crack up so hard they have to collapse on the couch and as Darren laughs, honest and sincere, while peppering kisses all over Chris's face and neck, Chris realizes that it needs moments like these to remind him of just how worth it all of this is.

 

* * *

 

_I know you, and I think I love you_   
_I know you, and I think I love you_   
_I know you and can't you feel our love just growing,_   
_growing, growing, growing, growing, baby._

**Author's Note:**

> If you enjoyed this, please [reblog on Tumblr](http://everythingsklainenothinghurts.tumblr.com/post/119037970344/fic-to-know-you-is-to-love-you) if you want! :)


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